Monopoly teams up with Google Maps

A screenshot showing Monopoly City Streets.

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Google may have a monopoly on information but now it has Monopoly as well, after toy maker Hasbro teamed up with the search giant to create a live worldwide version of the classic board game using Google Maps.

Scheduled to launch today, US time, and running for four months, the game, Monopoly City Streets, uses Google Maps as a board and challenges players to build an empire starting with 3 million Monopoly dollars.

Virtually any street in the world can be bought on a first-come, first-served basis, and players are able instantly to "build" houses, hotels, skyscrapers, castles, football stadiums and other buildings to increase rental income and the value of their streets.

But, because countries such as North Korea and Israel do not provide map information to Google, these countries are off limits.

Unlike in the original board game, players receive daily rent on their properties automatically, and don't have to wait for another player to land on their street in order to cash in.

Rent is about 50,000 Monopoly dollars for a house and 100 million for a skyscraper.

Each address can only be bought by one person but properties can be traded between players. Anyone in the world can play for free.

Chance cards provide an opportunity to sabotage other players by building prisons and rubbish dumps on their streets, or bulldozing their properties.

But The Guardian, which had a sneak preview of the game, said that, while watching a demolition ball decimate competitors' properties is fun, it could become boring fast.

"As nice as it is to construct wildly improbable premises around areas you're familiar with, and see the structures displayed on the Google Maps format, putting up buildings and watching the rent roll in could become quite dull," it wrote.

A Google spokeswoman said in a statement: "Google is delighted to have worked with Hasbro and Tribal DDB to develop Monopoly City Streets and bring Monopoly to 3D life."

Monopoly City Streets will be available until January 31 next year. It was created to promote the new 3D Monopoly board game, Monopoly City.

- © Fairfax NZ News